Experimental AU
by EyePhoenix
Summary: This is a Naruto Highschool AU. At the moment it is purely experimental as I would like to see if it gains interest. Critical reviews are very welcome. I will not indulge too far into the plot of this story as I wish any further chapters to remain unknown for now, but to give a basic rundown; it is about two rival schools within Konoha which are joined together for the Genin Event.


**_AN:_** This is just a little something I'm working on in my spare time - when I'm not doing coursework or shifts at work basically - as this account is completely experimental this fanfic does not have a name as of yet. If enough people are interested I will upload the rest of this chapter onto my original fanfiction account. This will include SasuNaru moments later within the fanfic, the fanfic itself is loosely based off of SasuNaru fanart I have seen. This is a High School AU fanfiction and is based loosely off of the canon Naruto series - this will become evident in later chapters. The complete fanfiction will someday be posted on my main account, but for the time being it is experimental as I wish to see how readers will react to a taster of the first chapter. Please feel free to be critical over my work as this is another reason as to why I am only uploading a portion - I plan to use any feedback to improve the chapters that I have already written and use this technique again for later chapters. Thank you for reading this, I really hope you enjoy it :)

Oh! I almost forgot, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. This is a non-profitable publication. Rated T for mild violence.

* * *

**_Chapter One: Meeting._**

The petals of the cherry blossoms drifted lazily to the ground; covering the dirt path and green grass into a velvety pink blanket, while the swallows dived between the branches of the trees; singing to each other and collecting suitable twigs and leaves – from which they could build their nests in the higher branches of the cherry blossom trees. The sunlight was filtered onto the covered path by the foliage of the area. Small animals; such as rabbits, burrowed under the trees and spent their days happily scurrying around the peaceful surrounding or eating at the grass until they felt content enough to lie calmly in the shade.

The peace and quiet of this beautiful place was barely disturbed as the wooded area belonged to one of the village's schools; Konohagakure Institute – a Private School. Any of the adult population that resided within the village of Konohagakure were usually too busy with their daily lives to even acknowledge the existence of such a place and the school students were not particularly interested in the cherry blossom wood unless it was a useful short-cut home from school., however some of the students from Konohagakure Institute's rival school; Konoha Academy, also used the cherry blossom woods as a short-cut. Encounters between the students from both schools would usually result in brutal fights.

Naruto Uzumaki; the infamous Jinchuuriki and prankster from the public school, laughed as he congratulated himself for his latest achievement – flunking his last and less favourite lesson of the day; science. He ruffled the pink petals from his blond hair with one hand and held onto the strap of his rucksack that was hung over his shoulder with the other.  
'Iruka Sensei is going to be so mad when he finds out!' Naruto chuckled gleefully to himself; allowing his cerulean eyes to wander up to the equally blue sky and imagining his strict sensei's angry face. Naruto's grin turned into a frown as Iruka's face continued to loom in his mind and a guilty sensation fell upon the boy. 'Hm… he might come after me again; perhaps I should lie low for a while.' He cast his eyes around at the surrounding trees; deciding that the cover of the foliage would keep him out of trouble until three o'clock – this was when he would retrace his footsteps back to Konoha Academy and meet up with his two friends Kiba Inuzuka and Shikamaru Nara.  
He dropped his rucksack on the floor, sat down next to it and leant against one of the many trees; enjoying his freedom and grinning blissfully as a gentle breeze caressed his face – making the few strands of blond hair that fell over Naruto's face tickle his eyes and nose.

As time slowly ticked past, the young Jinchuuriki yawned and rubbed his watery eyes in a futile attempt to keep them open until he gradually fell into a light snooze.

Unfamiliar voices and laughter echoed around Naruto when he opened his eyes again. He blinked groggily at the sunlight that was now shining directly onto his face and making his eyes sting slightly in response.  
'Uh?' Naruto's unfocused gaze fell upon the watch on his wrist. 'Three o'clock?' He narrowed his eyes to squint at the watch so that he could confirm the time. 'That means…'  
Naruto's eyes widened as the voices drew closer to the spot where he was slumped against the tree; he then quickly scurried to his feet and grabbed his bag – throwing it over his left shoulder.  
'Hey, you!' Naruto froze where he stood as one of the voices called out to him in a hostile tone.  
Naruto whirled around on the spot to face four boys; each of them at least a year or two older than he was and each of them wearing matching navy blue blazers with red ties and grey trousers. Naruto instantly recognised the embroidered Konoha Leaf symbol on their breast pockets.  
'You're from the public school, aren't you?' A brunet boy – who stood a little further ahead of the other three boys – eyed Naruto's yellow jumper suspiciously. 'What are you doing around here?'  
'I'm just walking.' Naruto replied defensively.  
'Walking?'  
'Yeah, it's where you put one foot in front of the other and –'  
'Don't get smart with me, I know what walking is!' The brunet clenched his fist threateningly as he took a step closer to the golden haired boy. 'You shouldn't be sulking around here; these woods belong to Professor Shimura!'  
Naruto had to suppress the urge to cock his head to one side and wrinkle his nose in confusion; he was fairly certain that he had heard the name "Shimura" before, but couldn't remember where.  
'Hey, Tori…' Another one of the boys – this one was blond – approached the brunet and lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. 'Isn't he _that_ kid?'  
'Huh?' The boy named Tori stared at Naruto with scrutinising eyes – taking note of the whisker-like markings on Naruto's cheeks. 'I think you're right, Uzura.'  
'_That kid_?' Naruto glared at the older boys and his body shook with outrage; just like almost everyone else in the village, their attitude towards him was unpleasant and they stared at him with those same hateful eyes despite the fact that they did not know him nor had he ever recalled meeting them before this very moment. 'What's that supposed to mean?'  
'You're that monster!' Uzura pointed accusingly at Naruto. 'You attacked the village!'  
'I – what?' Naruto spluttered in shock and anger; he backed away as Tori and his friends began to advance on him. 'I didn't do anything! Why would I attack my own village?'  
Naruto felt two of the boys grab his arms; holding them where he stood, while Uzura tore his bag from his shoulder and ransacked the contents inside.  
'Hey!' Naruto shouted as he watched Uzura throw various scrolls and books on the floor and struggled to release himself from the grip of the older boys. 'You can't just throw my stuff – ooff!'  
The Jinchuuriki's knees buckled as Tori's fist collided with his stomach – knocking the wind out of him.  
'Shut up, you!' Tori sneered at the Jinchuuriki.  
'Heh, nothing interesting anyway.' Uzura laughed as he threw the now empty rucksack at Naruto's feet.  
'That's a shame.' Tori pouted playfully at Naruto. 'So you have the nerve to show your face around here with nothing to compensate for it? I can't believe the Hokage is letting you live; you're nothing but a nuisance! A pest that needs to be eradicated! This is for the village!' Tori punched Naruto's stomach again while his friends cackled and hooted in encouragement.

The beatings continued and soon Naruto felt like a ragdoll that had been thrown around by a tantruming toddler. Despite the constant punching and kicking Naruto continued to struggle out of the older boys' grip, he was determined to fight back and show his attackers that he wasn't a piece of dirt that they could walk all over when they pleased.  
'Look at him, Kasasagi!' Uzura chuckled at one of the boys who was holding onto Naruto's arms. 'Suck a pathetic little worm.'  
'What do you expect?' The boy to Naruto's right replied tauntingly. 'He doesn't get the elite training at he's school that we get at ours.'  
'He doesn't deserve any training.' Uzura sneered while his friends laughed and jeered at the Jinchuuriki.  
Each of the boys stopped laughing as a kunai flew past Tori; barely missing his cheek.  
'What do you think you're doing?' A new voice sounded from behind the group; the tone of the new voice was calm, yet intimidating. Naruto couldn't see the newcomer but the image he pictured in his head was that of another boy who was roughly the same age of his attackers with dark mysterious features.  
'It's Uchiha.' The boy named Kasasagi announced quietly as he and the others glanced around at the figure behind them.  
To Naruto's surprise, the older boys released their grasp on his bruised arms – letting him drop painfully to the ground – and gathered their own bags from the floor.  
'We're done here.' Tori called out coldly before turning his back on the new arrival to face Naruto once more. 'You're lucky this time, monster.' Tori and his friends quickly left the scene.

Naruto was finally able to see who had thrown the kunai now that the group of older boys had disappeared; this guy had ebony chin-length hair – which was a spiked mess at the back and bangs framed his pale face – his dark eyes were narrowed into a glare at the backs of the retreating group, he wore the same navy blue blazer and red tie with light grey trousers and smart shoes. He looked as though he was approximately the same age as Naruto.  
"_He's one of them_!" Naruto scowled to himself as he reached for his tattered rucksack and started to collect his books and scrolls – each of them were either covered in dirt or ripped. He furiously shoved them back into his bag – making the damage to the book, scrolls and bag even worse – averting his eyes from the boy that stood before him.  
The ebony haired boy sighed and knelt down in front of Naruto, 'here let me –'  
'I don't want your help!' Naruto growled; snatching his last book out of the stranger's hands. 'I was doing fine on my own!' He stuffed the book into his rucksack and scooped the tattered bag into his arms before he pivoted on the spot and ran as fast as he could from the other boy; feeling those dark eyes boring into his back as he ran.

* * *

Naruto finally stopped running when he reached Konoha Academy. Half of him was pleased to see that his friends; Kiba and Shikamaru, had waited for him but the other half was embarrassed that they had seen him covered in bruises and bleeding while he clutched at his rucksack in a vain attempt to keep the contents inside.  
'What the hell happened to you?' Kiba – a boy who was slightly taller than Naruto with short, brown hair and a red, triangular marking on each cheek; like his mother, this boy had a wild look about him – asked in astonishment. Kiba stared between the torn rucksack in Naruto's arms, the bruise that was blemishing around Naruto's left eye and the blood that was seeping from the blond's swollen lower lip.  
'It's nothing.' Naruto mutter; waving Kiba's question away. 'I just –'  
'Fell over?' Shikamaru interrupted sceptically. This boy was also taller than Naruto; he had spiky, raven coloured hair that was tied back – making his hair look like the leaves from a pineapple. 'You're a bad liar, Naruto.'  
'You should get these injuries seen to, you know.' Kiba added; poking at one of Naruto's contusions and watching in amusement as the blond winced in response. 'They could get infected or something.'  
'It's fine, honestly.' Naruto gave them both his usual wide grin. 'Are we going to stand around here all day or what? I wanna go to Ichiraku's!'  
Kiba sighed wearily as he watched his golden haired friend hurry along ahead of Shikamaru and himself. 'I think he's definitely fine if he's that enthusiastic.'  
'I wonder how he got those injuries though.' Shikamaru stared curiously after Naruto as well.  
'Who knows?' Kiba shrugged as he slowly began to follow the blond in question with Shikamaru at his side.  
'We should tell Iruka Sensei. Usually I wouldn't bother, but it looks like he got it pretty bad this time.'  
'When are you gonna tell him?'  
Shikamaru heaved a sigh, 'I guess he should know sooner rather than later.' Shikamaru cleared his throat and raised his voice so that Naruto could hear him. 'Hey Naruto, I've forgotten my homework, I'll be back in a minute.'  
'Can't you just leave it?' Naruto moaned; walking back towards Kiba and Shikamaru.  
'I'd love to, believe me, but my mum would kill me.' Shikamaru huffed as he turned back towards the school. 'I'll only be five minutes. Wait up, okay?'


End file.
